Painting Our Self portrait
God gives us all a canvas; we paint it as we choose.
It isn’t paint by numbers, nor paint it wrong, “you lose.”
We’re free to choose our pallet – the thickness of our strokes;
Sweeping strands of color, or spots from careless pokes.
And when we feel we’re failing and cast our paints aside,
There waits the Master Artist who wants to be our guide.
He’ll take our feeble efforts, if we will just release,
And guided by his steady hand, we’ll paint His masterpiece.
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10
The Greek word that is translated masterpiece “poiēma” is where we get the English word poem. As we read this Scripture we are reminded that “God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Philippians 1:6
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow may have had this in mind as he wrote the final stanza of his epic Poem “A Psalm of Life.”
“Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.”
Blessings, Your Friends in Christ
Because He Loves Us Press 